Pharrell's $7.3m Bill For Copying Marvin Gaye

A jury has ruled that Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke copied Marvin Gaye with their song Blurred Lines, ordering the pair to pay $7.3m (£4.85m).

The eight-person panel reached the decision after hearing nearly a week of testimony about similarities between the biggest hit of 2013 and Gaye's 1977 song Got To Give It Up.

Gaye's children sued Thicke and Williams, saying their song infringed the copyright of their father's song, which the pair denied.

The late singer's daughter, Nona Gaye, wept as the verdict was being read and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch.

Blurred Lines earned more than $5m apiece for Thicke and Williams.

Video: Listen: Blurred Lines/Give It Up

Although both are credited as its songwriters, Williams said he wrote the song in around an hour in 2012, and the pair recorded it in one night.

An attorney for Thicke and Williams said a decision in favour of Gaye's heirs could have a chilling effect on musicians who try to emulate an era or another artist's sound.

The Gayes' lawyer said Williams and Thicke were liars who went beyond trying to emulate the sound of Gaye's late-1970s music and copied Got To Give It Up outright.

"They fought this fight despite every odd being against them," Mr Busch said of the Gaye family outside court.

Williams told jurors that Gaye's music was part of the soundtrack of his youth, but the seven-time Grammy winner said he did not use any of it to create Blurred Lines.

Gaye's children - Nona, Frankie and Marvin Gaye III - sued the singers in 2013 and were present when the verdict was read.

Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father Marvin Gay Sr at their house in Los Angeles on 1 April, 1984, leaving his children the copyright to his music.

:: Read a list of other musical copyright cases here

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Greece Threatens German Asset Seizure Over War

The Greek justice minister has announced it may seize German state-owned property to compensate victims of a Nazi massacre more than 70 years ago.

"I'm ready to sign (the decision)," Nikos Paraskevopoulos said.

"The prime minister is aware of the views I have on the issue."

The alleged plan is to confiscate German-owned assets to compensate relatives of around 214 Greeks civilians killed in the village of Distomo by the SS in 1944.

The comments from Mr Paraskevopoulos come amid rapidly rising tension between Athens and Berlin over the renegotiation of its €240bn (£169bn) bailout.

The German government earlier accused Greece of raising WWII reparations as a diversionary tactic from its current bailout woes.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras claimed Berlin was using legal tricks to avoid paying compensation for the Nazi occupation.

But spokesmen for Germany's political and economic leadership dismissed the claim.

The Greek leadership is under pressure over its bailout commitments

"It is our firm belief that questions of reparations and compensation have been legally and politically resolved," said Steffen Seibert who represents German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We should concentrate on current issues and, hopefully what will be a good future."

Video: Greece Clashes: Syriza Backlash

A spokesman for the German finance ministry added that there was no reason to hold talks with the Greek government about reparations.

He said they would be a distraction from the serious financial issues facing Greece.

Greece's anti-austerity government, and governments before it, have previously raised complaints of war reparations.

Video: Does Germany Trust Greece?

Last month Mr Tsipras said it was a "moral obligation" to demand compensation.

He said Greece was obliged to make the call on behalf of "our people, to history, to all European peoples who fought and gave their blood against Nazism".

Anger has long been aimed at Germany over policies that led to its debt mountain and there are annual celebrations in honour of the country's defiance against the Nazi occupation.

Video: Tsipras: We Won Battle, Not The War

Germany has said the issue was resolved as part of German reunification in 1990, and previous payments in 1960.

Greece is under growing pressure to open its books fully to bailout representatives in Athens and Brussels, amid fears it may run out of money within weeks.

Video: Greek Rescue Package Explained

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Car Makers Attack 'Anti-Diesel' Campaign

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

A growing campaign to blame the drivers of diesel cars for dangerous air pollution has been attacked by motor manufacturers.

Emissions from diesel engines, including particulates and nitrogen oxides, have been linked to heart disease, cancer and asthma, while air pollution is said to kill 29,000 people a year in the UK.

After decades of tax incentives in favour of diesel vehicles, some drivers are now facing penalties for choosing diesel cars that cost less to tax but do more damage to air quality.

London's Mayor Boris Johnson has proposed adding £10 to the daily congestion charge for diesel cars, while Islington residents will soon have to pay an extra £96 for a diesel parking permit.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has been stung into launching a campaign to try to persuade motorists to keep buying diesel cars.

Diesel users could face a £10 rise in the London congestion charge

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: "Today's diesel engines are the cleanest ever, and the culmination of billions of pounds of investment by manufacturers to improve air quality.

"We need to avoid penalising one vehicle technology over another and instead encourage the uptake of the latest vehicle technology by consumers."

More than one in three cars on the road is now powered by diesel, up from less than one in 10 in 1994.

The popularity of diesel is the result of favourable vehicle tax rates introduced by the government in 2001 to reduce carbon dioxide levels from petrol engines.

Last year, the World Health Organisation warned air quality in most cities that monitor outdoor air pollution failed to meet safe levels, with people at risk of respiratory disease and other health problems.

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£1bn Printer Falls Like Domino To Japan Bid

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A FTSE-250 printing technology company will be the latest British corporate name to fall prey to a foreign rival when it unveils a takeover deal worth close to £1bn.

Sky News has learnt that the board of Domino Printing Sciences has reached a deal with a‎ major Japanese company that could spark an international bidding war.

Statements could be made to the London and Tokyo stock exchanges as soon as Wednesday, they said.

The identity of the Japanese predator could not be verified on Tuesday, although it is understood not to be any of Canon, Panasonic, Ricoh‎ or Sony - four of the biggest players in Japan's consumer electronics industry.

City sources said that advisers at Citi, the Wall Street bank, were working for the mystery bidder, and added that Domino had also held discussions with a number of US-based competitors in recent months.

One or more of these companies could yet lodge a counter-bid in an effort to gatecrash the agreed deal, they said.

Domino produces printers with secure inks, and serves multinational customers around the world.

Employing 2300 people, the company has operations in the UK, China, Germany, India, Sweden and the US.

If completed by its Japanese suitor, a takeover would be the latest in a string of major corporate deals involving British businesses being acquired by peers from Japan.

Gallaher‎, the tobacco manufacturer, and Aegis, the media-buying agency, are among the UK companies which have succumbed to multibillion pound advances from Japanese rivals in recent times.

A bid for Domino would ‎be one of the largest foreign takeover offers launched since revisions to the Takeover Code were introduced to provide additional safeguards for British manufacturing and research and development.

Shares in Domino fell by 1.1% on Tuesday to close at 721p, giving the company a market capitalisation of just over £821m.

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Ex-Traveller Set For Divorce Win 20 Years On

A former traveller looks set to get a divorce payout from her ex-husband, who became a millionaire 10 years after they split.

Kathleen Wyatt, who is seeking £1.9m from Dale Vince, did not lodge a claim until nearly 20 years after their divorce.

Mr Vince has described letting her make a claim now as "mad", saying: "This could signal open season for people who had brief relationships a quarter of a century ago."

Supreme Court justices were told that the couple met when students, married in 1981 when in their early 20s, and lived a New Age traveller lifestyle.

They separated in the mid-1980s and divorced in 1992.  

In the mid-1990s Mr Vince began a business career and went on to become a green energy tycoon after launching a company called Ecotricity, now said to be worth more than £57m.

Ms Wyatt, 55, lodged a claim for "financial remedy" in 2011.

Mr Vince pictured by his company's first turbine in Gloucestershire

Deputy High Court judge Nicholas Francis gave it the green light in 2012 but three appeal judges overturned the decision in 2013.

Now, the Supreme Court justices have ruled it should go ahead, with a judge in the Family Division of the High Court assessing the claim.

One justice, Lord Wilson, said Ms Wyatt's claim was "legally recognisable" and not an "abuse of process".

He noted she had four grown-up children, one of them a son by Mr Vince who had provided "minimal support" for him.

Lord Wilson said £1.9m was "out of the question", but there was a "real prospect" Ms Wyatt would get a "comparatively modest award".

In a statement, Mr Vince said: "I'm disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided not to bring this case to an end now, over 30 years since the relationship ended.

"We both moved on and started families of our own... it's been so long that there are no records, no court has kept anything, and it's hard to defend yourself in such circumstances - indeed the delay itself has enabled the claim, because there is no paperwork in existence.

"I feel that we all have a right to move on, and not be looking over our shoulders. This could signal open season for people who had brief relationships a quarter of a century ago... it's mad in my opinion."

Ms Wyatt said after the hearing: "It's an important judgment."

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‎State Funds Gear Up For £2.5bn VW Leasing Deal

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

A consortium of state-backed, pension and private equity funds is in talks to snap up the world's biggest vehicle-leasing business from Volkswagen in a deal worth an estimated £2bn.

Sky News has learnt that the funds‎ have been in talks with VW about a takeover of the Netherlands-based LeasePlan for several weeks.

The cons‎ortium is being led by PGGM, a Dutch public sector pension fund.

Insiders said on Wednesday that it also includes the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC), and TDR Capital, a London-based buyout firm whose investments include the fitness clubs chain David Lloyd Leisure.

The leasing company issued a statement late on Tuesday to say that its shareholders were exploring a sale following an enquiry from Sky News, although it did not publicly name the bidders.

‎"LeasePlan Corporation, the world's leading fleet management and driver mobility company, today announces that its 100% shareholder Global Mobility Holding has entered into discussions regarding the potential divestment of LeasePlan Corporation," the statement said.

"LeasePlan‎ emphasises that the discussions are still in progress and may or may not result in an agreement."

The group went on to say that as a financial institution with a Dutch banking licence "any transaction and any change of ownership... will be subject to regulatory and competition authorities' approval".

VW‎, which invested in LeasePlan in 2004 at a €2bn (£1.4bn) valuation, acquired the company from ABN Amro, the Dutch bank which was later partially swallowed by Royal Bank of Scotland in a deal that heralded the near-collapse of the UK lender.

As part of that deal, half of LeasePlan's shares were bought by Olayan Group in Saudi Arabia and Mubadala Development Company, another entity held by the state of Abu Dhabi.

Those investors subsequently sold out to Friedrich von Metzler, a German private banker.

Sources said the current talks were at an‎ advanced stage but cautioned that the deal could still fall apart.

LeasePlan describes itself as a Dutch financial services company which has become "the world-leading provider of fleet management services".

Operating in 32 countries, including the ‎UK, it manages more than 1.4m vehicles under a variety of brands, and employs 6,800 people.

The precise value of a deal was ‎unclear although one insider said €3.5bn was "in the right ballpark".

VW, the world's second-largest car-maker, will report its financial results on Thursday, which will disclose the impact of currency volatility on its business.

The parties in the consortium either declined to comment or could not be reached.

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CIA Linked To Apple Hacking Programme

By Sky News US Team

The CIA has worked for nearly a decade to break the security protecting Apple phones and tablets, according to a report citing documents obtained from Edward Snowden.

Investigative news website The Intercept said on Tuesday the top-secret programme was aided by British intelligence services.

The report said efforts to break into Apple products started as early as 2006, a year before the introduction of the first iPhone, and continued as recently as 2013.

US government researchers reportedly built a version of XCode - Apple's software application development tool - to create surveillance backdoors into programmes distributed on Apple's App Store.

The report cited documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden

The attempt to hack "secure communications products, both foreign and domestic" also targeted Google Android phones, the report said.

The Intercept stopped short of saying whether the CIA successfully cracked Apple's encryption coding.

An Apple spokesman pointed to public statements by CEO Tim Cook on privacy, but declined to comment further.

"I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services," Cook wrote in a statement published last year.

"We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will."

Apple and other top technology companies have been working to restore faith among consumers concerned that products have become tools for widespread government surveillance.

In September, Apple strengthened encryption methods for data stored on iPhones.

The company said the changes meant it no longer had any way to extract customer data even if a government ordered it to with a search warrant.

Google Inc announced shortly afterward it also planned to increase the use of stronger encryption tools.

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Pound Soars Amid Latest 'Greek Drama'

Fresh uncertainty over Greece has prompted a warning from the Chancellor and helped push the pound to a seven-year high of €1.40.

Sterling is now at levels not seen since the autumn of 2007, meaning Britons travelling abroad will get more for their money - around €1.38 at tourist exchange rates.

But Chancellor George Osborne remains focussed on resolving the deadlock over Greece, tweeting: "Just had bilateral meeting with Greek finance minister, urging them and eurozone to find solution.

"Unfortunately this Greek drama isn't over," he wrote.

Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was told by his fellow eurozone finance ministers on Monday that time was running out and he must urgently put forward concrete proposals if the country wants to secure rescue funds agreed under its bailout extension.

Athens got a lifeline last month when ministers agreed a four-month deal on extending its current EU-IMF bailout, subject to the reforms being agreed.

The next payout of €7.5bn (£5bn) is due at the end of April.

Greece may have to leave the currency union if no reform programme can be ratified.

Mr Varoufakis has faced ridicule in Brussels and back home for some of his proposals, including the use of tourists to spot tax cheats.

His tough negotiating style has also irritated creditors, who have signalled their patience is wearing thin.

Greece has warned of a possible referendum if its plans are rejected.

The new radical left-wing government has pledged to streamline bureaucracy and tackle smuggling but its blueprint has been slammed as lacking detail, and especially figures.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup, said on Monday: "We have lost over two weeks in which very little progress has been made - we have to stop wasting time and start talks seriously."

Mr Dijsselbloem, who is also the Dutch finance minister, added: "The extension (of the Greek bailout) is only for four months and the clock is ticking."

On Wednesday, the euro dropped to a 12-year low against the dollar, as some speculators expected it to drop to parity in the near future.

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China Hit By More Missed Growth Forecasts

China has been hit by a series of missed growth forecasts, indicating that the world's second largest economy may be in need of additional support measures.

Retail sales, investment and factory output were all below expectation in January and February, according to official data released on Wednesday.

Sales growth was at its lowest since early 2006, industrial output since late 2008 and infrastructure investment was at a 13-year low.

The National Bureau of Statistics said despite the multi-year lows, retail sales grew at 10.7%, factory output at 6.8% and fixed asset investment at 13.9%.

China's GDP expanded at 7.4% in 2014, which was the lowest rate since 1990.

Last week the country's economic leaders lowered the 2015 forecast to around 7%, from a previous estimate of 7.5%.

There have been further signs of a contracting growth rate, with deposit and lending rates cut in late February - the second time in three months.

Consumer inflation last month clawed back from a low of more than five years.

But the inflation rise of 1.4% was partly put down to the spending splurge over the traditional Chinese lunar New Year festival.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell to its lowest level in nearly two months, on the back of the data announcement and losses on US markets.

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Quorn Owner Exponent Banks On Meaty Auction

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The owner of Quorn, the meat-free food producer, ‎has hired bankers to oversee a sale following expressions of interest from possible buyers including the American group behind Alpro, the plant-based milk alternative.

Sky News understands that Exponent Private Equity has hired Houlihan Lokey, a US advisory firm, to conduct a strategic review of Quorn.

Houlihan Lokey's work is expected to take about two months and is likely to lead to a formal auction later this year, sources said on Wednesday.

News of the appointment comes days after Sky News revealed that Exponent had received approaches from potential bidders including The WhiteWave Foods Company, Alpro's owner.

Exponent, which has owned Quorn since 2011, is also likely to consider a stock market listing for the business that bankers believe could value it at more than £400m.

Based in North Yorkshire, Quorn has capitalised on growing consumer demand in some western markets for diets containing less red meat‎ amid public health statistics highlighting an explosion in levels of obesity.

In January, the company published figures showing that sales had risen by 7% in 2014 to  £150m,  bucking a trend of flat sales performances from many of its competitors.

Quorn's stronger sales were due in part to a deal with Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer‎, which now stocks its products in more than 2,000 stores.

The horsemeat scandal in 2013 stoked concerns about food provenance, boosting the manufacturers of non-meat ranges.

Its foothold in the US market is likely to appeal to prospective buyers such as WhiteWave.

Last month, the American company reported record results for last year, with revenue and profit both rising by more than 30%.

WhiteWave is one of the biggest producers of plant-based foods, with brands such as Earthbound Farm, Silk and Alpro.

Alongside WhiteWave, Hain Celestial, which has acquired British brands such as Covent Garden Soups in recent years, and Nestle, the Swiss giant which owns Kit-Kat and other confectionery products, are both likely to show interest in Quorn.

Quorn's origins date back almost 50 years, although the brand itself was created in 1985.

It has had a string of owners, including Zeneca, the pharmaceuticals group, and Premier Foods, which sold the brand for £205m as it raised cash to stave off the threat of collapse.

Kevin Brennan, Quorn's chief executive, has vowed in the past to turn it into a billion-dollar brand.‎

Exponent and Houlihan Lokey declined to comment.

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